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What's New

posted by qn-admin
on Fri, 01/19/2018 - 17:27

2018-01-19 More Smart Group news:
With each week, the Smart Group Server has gained significant new capabilities. The older legacy StarNetServer had to be compiled with DExtra linking or DCS linking support. A single server could not serve groups with different linking. Now a single Smart Group Server can serve Smart Groups that can be linked to either DCS or DExtra reflectors. In addition, the new Smart Groups can be linked and unlinked dynamically from a remote control program. This should be a welcome feature to clubs that use Smart Groups as a gathering place. To provide more differentiation between the Smart Group Server and the older StarNetServer, the STARNET GROUPS webpage has been renamed ROUTING GROUPS and the active Smart Groups appear in a different table than the older STARnet Groups.

2017-12-19 The Smart Group Server is getting smarter!
It is very common for most users to never transmit a logout to a STARnet Group. They just let themselves time out and be logged off by the Server. The Smart Group Server will now inform QuadNet when this happens so that those users will be take off of the STARNET GROUPS page. Also the Smart Group Server creates just enough resources to support the groups that are defined in its configuration and there is no hard limit to the number of groups you can create on a single Server. Finally, user logins are not retransmitted to the group or a linked reflector. This was an annoying feature of the original STARnet Group Server that breaks the fundamental etiquette rule of radio operation, LISTEN FIRST. Using a Smart Group, you can key up with the login callsign to get subscribed. There is no need to say anything during this initial transmission. Just wait for your confirming beep and the "Logged in" message on your radio. Then you can wait and see if there is an ongoing QSO on the Group before you key up again.

2017-12-2 New Routing Group Server:
There is a new routing group server in town! Check out the new data available on the STARNET GROUPS page. This new Smart Group Server is a custom server that communicates directly with the QuadNet IRCDDB server to provide more information about each channel than the original STARnet Group Server. While it's still in the "alpha" release stage, the source is available now, see https://github.com/n7tae/smart-group-server. Keep an eye on this. The smart-group-server is getting smarter all the time!

2017-10-5 New Features on STARNET GROUPS page:
There are new features on the STARNET GROUPS page. All times are now reported as elapsed times so it's easier to tell how long it's been since a STARnet Group has checked into the QuadNet Server. It's also easier to see how long it's been since a user has keyed up on a STARnet Group. With group row merging in the user table, it's also easier to tell who is subscribed to a particular STARnet Group. Come on over and join in on the fun! Be sure to check out very useful information on the HOME page for setting up your software and you home network to utilize Routing (and DCS and DExtra linking).

2017-10-3 Now tracking ALL STARnet Groups:
The STARNET GROUPS page is now tracking all recognizable STARnet Groups. This page will be of great help if you want to start your own STARnet server. Look here before configuring your server so you won't choose Group names that are already being used. Please avoid Group names that begin with REF, XRF, DCS or XLX. It's confusing enough for new users to understand the differences between linking and routing! Our favorites begin with the old, trusty STN or the QuadNet-approved Q! We also strongly recommend that subscribe suffixes range from 'A' to 'M' (or space, ' ') and unsubscribe suffixes range from 'N' to 'Z'. This just makes it easier to follow what's going on if your watching the LAST HEARD page. It's fun to watch the Pi-Star dashboard when someone is talking on a STARnet Group you are subscribed to, you'll see the Group server is Zone Routing the audio to your repeater! We love routing at QuadNet!

2017-10-01 Transcoding Server:
The Kings of Digital group in California have graciously dedicated channel B of their new transcoding server, XLX313 to the QuadNet group. Through this Multiprotocol Gateway Reflector, DMR user can talk directly to D-STAR users. On our side, D-STAR users can link to channel C of our X-reflector, XRF757, or Group Route to our STARnet Group Bridge, QNET20 C. Of course, D-STAR users could also directly link to the transcoding server at XRF313B. For connecting to the DMR side, see the articles posted in the D-STAR Round Table Forum.

2017-10-01 Tracking STARnet Groups:
We are now tracking STARnet Groups using our network. A new tab called STARNET GROUPS will show all active groups that start with either Q or STN. STARnet groups broadcast their subscribe and unsubscribe code about one/hour. Any new STARnet Group will not be tracked until QuadNet detects this broadcast. In addition, after the broadcast has been registered, any users directly routing to those groups are also listed. If a STARnet Group is linked to a reflector (like QNET20 C is linked to XRF757C) any users linked to XRF757C will be heard by QNET20 C users, but they will not be listed in the GROUPUSER table.